Portable fire-escape.



No. 706,666. Patented Aug. 12, I902.

m.- J. JOHNSTON.

PORTABLE FIRE ESCAPE.

(Application Med Feb. 3, 1902.)

(No Model.)

UNITED STATES PATE T OFFIC MARY JANE JOHNSTON, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN.

PORTABLE FIRE-ESCAPE.

iPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent No. 706,666, dated August 12, 1902.

Application filed February 3, 1902- Serial No. 92,365. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that LMARY JANE J oHNsToN,a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Portable Fire-Escapes; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention has for its object to provide a fire-escape which is simple in construction, light, and of such proportions as to be conveniently placed in the satchel of a traveler;

and it consists in certain peculiarities of construction and combination of parts to be fully set forth hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings and subsequentlyclaimed.

In the said drawings, Figure 1 isa general perspective view illustrating the manner of attaching my device when in operation. Fig. 2 is a detail elevation of my device with parts in section and parts broken away to better illustrate my invention; and Fig. 3 is a crosssection of the same on line 22of Fig. 2,-showing the locking-pawl and ratchet-wheelin detail.

Referring by letters to the drawings, A is the spindle, and B B a pair of spools secured thereto in any desired manner, and between the latter, loosely mounted upon the spindle, is a hollow handle 0, which is provided with a series of longitudinal openings or slotsa, and is bored out at either end to form a bear ing in which the spindle A revolves. A ratchet-wheel E is secured to the spindle between the handle and the spool B and is opposed by a pawl D, which is pivoted between ears 1), projecting from the adjacent end of the handle vC, and is held against the teeth of,

the aforesaid ratchet-wheel bya spring a, interposed between thehandle and the tail of the pawl, the latter projecting toward the center of the handle in such a position so as to be readily controlled by the operator.

The spool 13 has projecting from its innerdisk a friction-band B, which when engaged by the back of the pawl D serves'as'abrake. A stirrup I is suspended from the'spindleA by means of metal cables I, secured to thimbles H, loosely mounted upon said spindle at either end thereof, and outside of the spools B B and upon the tread of said stirrup I is preferably secured an elastic band 6, into which the foot is slipped and securely held when the person operating the fire-escape is descending.

' A lowering-cable F, having its ends secured tothe spools and normally wound upon the latter,.is provided for lowering the device, and an elevating-cable G is wound around and securedto the spindle A within the hollow handle and in the opposite direction from the first-named cable, the free end of which may be readily drawn out through one of the slots a of the aforesaid handle when it is desired to elevate the device.

As illustrated in Fig. 3 of the drawings,when it is desired to put the device in operation the cable F is thrown over any available fixture K in the apartment, and the device is then drawn out through the window, the cable F having a spacing-rod J to keep the former approximately in line with the spools. The person grasps the handle with one hand and after placing the foot in the stirrup presses the tail of the pawl with the thumb. This frees the handle from the spindle, and the device .will descend by gravity, the spindle and the several parts secured thereto revolving, thereby causing the lowering-cable to unwind, the speed being governed by the operator pressing the back of the pawl against the friction-band B or stopped entirelyby releasing the pawl D, which would then be forced into the teeth of the ratchet by its spring and lock the handle and spindletogether.

Should it be desired to return the device after the first person has been 1owered,th.e free end of cable G would be drawn out through one of the slots a, of the handle, and as it was pulled it would revolve the spindle and. wind .up the lowering-cable while the raising-cable G was unwinding until the device was raised to the position from where it had been started, it beingunderstood that whenin this latter position the diameter of the coil of cable G, whichhas not been unwound entirely from spindle A, is still "greater. than the diameter of the coil of cable F, wound upon the spools B B, and if it was not desired to use the de vice after the lowering-cable was wound it would be necessary to wind up the raisingcable. For this purpose I have provided a the aforesaid spindle between the spools, a

pawl secured to the handle, and a ratchetwheel fast to the spindle whereby the handle and spindle are normally locked together, a brake-band projecting from one of the spools in the path of the pawl whereby when the latter is disengaged from the ratchet-wheel it will bear upon the brake-band, another cable secured to the spindle Within the hollow handle and adapted to be wound upon the former in the opposite direction from the first-named cable, thimbles loosely mounted upon the aforesaid spindle and a stirrup suspended from the thimbles substantially as set forth. In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand, at Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin, in the presence of two witnesses.

MARY JANE JOHNSTON. Witnesses:

GEO. W. YOUNG, Enw. A. 81m. 

